finally a new topic eh?

well i have a B-100 combo Ampeg bass amp and when i turn it off it makes a noise smiliar to hitting a wooden spoon against a tile floor; every once in awhile, after that noise it'll make another that sounds like something is (un)winding.

is this normal for a higher-wattage amp?

love,

eric

the "wooden spoon against a floor tile" sound (which I'm assuming sounds like a loud 'click') is probably the amp cutting the output to the speaker

 

and if you have a fan inside your amp (you'll probably be able to see it in the back) that would probably be the "winding down" noise. if you don't, then i'm slightly confused.

 

has it only just started happening recently, or has it been there since you bought it? if it's always been there, then I wouldn't worry about it. otherwise, I'd get it checked out.

thanks man

yeah it's always done that but i was just wondering what it was.

and wow i didn't know i had a fan, that's pretty cool i guess

and my cousin has a guitar amp that you have to "warm up" before you can play it.

how come on some amps you have to "warm them up" and on others you dont?

Your cousin probably has a valve amp (or a "tube amp" as you call them in the US).

 

Valve amps have "standby" modes. Valve amps shouldn't be turned on straight away into full power mode, because it damages the valves and they'll be more likely to fail.

 

Valves have components inside them which heat them up. This creates an ideal environment for them to operate in as well as possible. If you put them into full power mode without letting them warm up first, it damages these components and the life of the valves will be cut short. If you put it into "standby" mode for a few minutes beforehand, the valves heat up so the valves last a lot longer.

 

If you do this, valves can last a year or maybe more. If not, they will probably last a few months at the most.

 

You don't need to worry about it with solid-state amps.

oh tube amps. aren't those pretty expensive?

my solid-state is reliable but sometimes it sounds below par.

anyway, thanks for the info :cool: